Community givers I particularly like (and therefore follow) are Guy, Chris Brogan, John Battelle, Tim O'Reilly, and, well, too many others to name. (I almost always enjoy reading the posts of those I'm connected with.)

Can these folks help you as an investor? If you're a tech investor, yes, I think they can, especially O'Reilly and Paul Saffo, a Fool friend that I've interviewed a few times. I also follow Sarah Wood because she's funny, Mary Smaragdis at Sun because she's an old friend, and Joe Quesada at Marvel because, well, I like comic books. (As if that's a surprise.)

1. Targeted searches. Go to Twitter. Scroll to the bottom of the page. Click "search." Now, enter "Akamai." Page 2 of the results includes a post from analyst Dana Gardner asking why Google hasn't yet bought the company. You can also search by tags (try #iPhone if you're an Apple investor) or users (try @TechCrunch to see reactions to that blog's postings).

2. StockTwits. Though it appears to be more for traders than long-term investors, StockTwits is like CAPS in that it captures a snapshot of investor sentiment as expressed in tweets. You can view data at StockTwits even if you aren't on Twitter. (Here's the data page for Apple.) But if you are, logging in with your Twitter username and password allows you to join the conversation.

Finally, I've a favor to ask. If you like what we do here in Fooldom and what we're doing at Twitter (@TheMotleyFool), would you consider nominating us for a Shorty Award in finance or business?

I still think of The Motley Fool as the world's greatest investment community. But I've come to view Twitter as a powerful enhancement. If you agree, and you're on Twitter, find me at @milehighfool. And if you're not, why not give it a try? You've at least one Foolish friend waiting to show you around ...

Thanks for the shout out to our site StockTwits.com in your article. We are indeed building an awesome online community for traders of all experience levels.

In addition, we can also add value to those who are more investment oriented. For example, those who are interested in precious metals and who have been following me regularly would have found several tweets focused on how I have been effectively building positions in $GLD and $SLV over a period of months and taking advantage of price movement and optionality to do so.

I am always eager to hear any and all feedback and can be reached directly at phil@stocktwits.com.